A Meal From Home

Yesterday we had free steaks and beer from some Minnesota restaurants and live music played by a couple of bands from back home. It was fun and everyone had a great time. I met the Governor and State Senator Dick Day (although not a lot of people knew who he was). I got a photo with Governor Pawlenty and briefly talked politics with Senator Day which isn't always a good idea after having a few brews. I guess it's a good thing I didn't run into Senator Dayton. Later in the evening a group of us were hanging out by our barracks and the Minnesota Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum was out and about and walked up to us. Except for me, nobody knew who he was so I introduced him to the group. He talked with us for a while and continued on with his walk. He later showed up with the Governor and a few other Minnesota politicians. Of course that happened while I left for a few minutes. Maybe they planned it that way. It was a good experience and I'm glad that they care enough to come down here and see us off like this.


Today we had the send-off ceremony on the post parade field. I had to miss it because I needed to drive down to Keesler Air Force Base to pick-up some communications equipment that we will be needing when we go to Iraq. I have no regrets about missing it, at least I didn't have to stand out in the humidity for hours on end.
This might be my last post from the United States; I hope to continue to update this blog frequently.

Weekend Over, Back to Work

After a nice long weekend down on the beach, I had to come back to Mississippi. We spent yesterday practicing for a big ceremony that will occur on Thursday. We also posed for an "Animated Red Bull". It looks just like our unit patch that we wear on our left shoulders. The Red Bull patch represents the 34th Infantry Division. The "1" in the middle represents 1st Brigade. Today we will be having the steak dinners that will be cooked for us by a bunch of Minnesota chefs that came down here for our send off.

It's a Party on the Gulf Coast

After about a three-hour drive, a group of us checked into a condominium right on the Gulf of Mexico. It didn't take long before we just threw our stuff into our rooms and ran down to the beach and into the water. So far it's a good start to our weekend pass.

Finally a Day Off

On Tuesday I got my first day off since Christmas break. I thought things would be less intense after returning from Fort Polk. Instead, my section has been working extra hours preparing for war. I spent some of my day off by going into Hattiesburg (the city outside Camp Shelby). A few of us went to the Buffalo Wild Wings here and, well we ate some wings. I took some time to also get ready for my four-day pass that will start tonight. I'm renting a car and driving to Gulf Shores, Alabama (about 45 minutes west of Pensacola). I've rented a condo at a resort down there so I'll be spending the weekend trying to keep myself out of trouble. I'm looking forward to this break and hope to write a little about it soon.